On the 23rd of June, Australian International School celebrated Global Festival Day.

It was a celebration for students to end their first semester with a huge school event, and also a great opportunity to appreciate the diverse cultural backgrounds of the international school. 

Students were expected to wear a cultural or traditional dress that can either represent their own cultural background or other countries’ culture to share their stories. 

The school’s parents association, AISPA, prepared cultural foods that represented each country to be served around the school, creating mini food courts for each country. 

In particular, traditional food was sold in the food court, and students were able to buy food through a coupon named bite bucks, in $5 and $10 denominations—which could be bought in front of the school field. 

In the case of secondary school, year 6 to year 12, period 1 and 2 were filled with various cultural workshops that were created and initiated by some students.

These students had to present a proposal in order to get their cultural workshop approved, and organize every aspect in advance to provide a fulfilling workshop. 

Period 1 and 2 held an opening ceremony for elementary school students.

The opening ceremony was held in the big gym and featured performances. 

The first performance was done by the elementary students’ choir, and was followed up by a few secondary schools’ performances singing, playing, and dancing in front of the stage. 

Period 3 and 4 were time for students to explore different food courts, try different cultural foods, and share their cultural stories. 

During that time, some students also performed at the Lunar stage, located in front of the canteen, and many students and teachers swung by to enjoy their music. 

Lastly, period 5 and 6 were time for students to watch performances that other students prepared on the main stage. 

The main stage was packed full with all the secondary students, who were excited to see their peers performing. 

There were raised steps at the back, providing a clear view for all the students.  

Same as when registering for the workshop, all the performers had to fill out a form and do an audition in order to perform. 

The official stage was opened with students dancing K-pop, “I AM” by “IVE”, and then successfully ended with a band playing “Smooth” by Carlos Santana. 

Other performances representing Spanish culture, African culture, Chinese culture, and others were done amazingly by many other students. 

There was a special performance where teachers danced to Chinese, Korean and African songs, and another special performance was performed by school prefects, dancing PSY’s “Gangnam Style”.     

Whenever students performed, applause and cheers filled the stage. 

The Global Festival in Australian International School was  a huge celebration that brought joy to all the students.  

Yujin Son
Australian International School 
Year 11